 Hi Psych2Goers, welcome back to another video. Thank you so much for being here. With your help and support, we're able to succeed in our mission to make mental health and psychology more accessible to everyone. Now let's continue. To use struggle with your emotional strength, are you unsure if you are emotionally strong? If so, that's completely understandable and normal. Having emotional strength is very different from having physical strength. Your emotional strength comes from internally working on yourself and because of this, it can be hard to figure out what your emotional strength level is. To help you with that, here are 10 signs that you're emotionally strong. 1. You express your emotions in a good and healthy way. Emotions are important indications of your deeper needs and they're there to alert you if something is wrong. Bottling up your emotions makes you less responsive to your own needs and you may also wind up letting them all out at once on an unsuspecting friend, making it difficult for you to get close to others. Though our society does stigmatize emotions, they're healthy and normal. Being able to freely express yourself around the people you trust is a good sign of emotional strength. 2. You don't let your emotions run wild. When you're emotionally strong, you tend to have good control over your initial reactions and emotions. For example, you may get mad after hearing upsetting news, but you won't let your anger make you say or do anything you might regret. Controlling your more instinctive reactions can be hard since it takes a lot of self-control, but it's a very important part of being emotionally strong. 3. You trust yourself. Do you have trust in yourself? Do you trust in your own capabilities and mental prowess? Having faith in yourself is hard. To have the confidence to do what you want and pursue your personal goals without caring about what others think of you is something that can be difficult to obtain, but not impossible. There's no reason to beat yourself up if you're not there just yet. Being confident and sure of yourself takes a lot of emotional strength, so as long as you're trying, you're doing a great job. 4. You accept your limitations and are open to receiving help. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, and that's okay. No one is perfect. We all want to be flawless and have our lives put together seamlessly, but the real world isn't built that way. Asking for help doesn't make you weak or burden. Instead, it means you have the strength to admit you need help and want to learn from your mistakes. Finding the acceptance in that and loving yourself enough to admit when you need help is a sure and pure sign of emotional strength. 5. You're open to feedback from others. Have you ever been so proud of something that you didn't want to hear a single negative comment said about it? We all have things that we don't want to hear criticism about. However, a big part of emotional strength is receiving feedback and honest thoughts from others who care about us. Regardless of whether you agree with that feedback or not, getting upset about it is likely not going to be worth it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. It takes a strong person to put this into practice, but try to remember that criticism doesn't take away from the value of your hard work or the project itself. 6. You know when and how to apologize. Has someone's apology ever felt like a never-ending list of excuses? Admitting when you're at fault is one of the most difficult things to do. After all, who wants to be in the wrong? Although it may be unpleasant, accepting your wrongdoings and apologizing for when we make mistakes is a trial everyone must go through. Apologizing you've made a mistake and apologizing for it is a huge sign of emotional strength and maturity. Knowing when and how to apologize also helps you to make strong, long-lasting relationships with others because it allows the chance for forgiveness and subsequent growth in that relationship. 7. You try to take care of and improve on yourself. Are self-care and self-improvement always in the back of your mind? Does it feel like they all too often get pushed to the side when you've got a million other things to do? It takes a lot of focus and discipline to make sure you are properly taking care of yourself and fulfilling your personal emotional needs. It can be hard to put this into practice and keep up with it, but as long as you keep trying and are finding the time to carve out for yourself, you're doing great. 8. You're kind and empathetic. In the kind of world we live in, it can be easy to lose your motivation to be kind to others. Sometimes, it feels as if people are only nice to you when they want something in return. However, as tempting as it can be to throw in the towel, that's probably not the case most of the time. While there are a few people like that, a lot of people aren't like that. Emotionally strong people don't let a couple of bad apples sour all the other amazing people they have yet to meet. 9. You're open to new things. Most people often want to stick to what they're good at. After all, doing what you're good at is satisfying to you and makes you feel good. Trying new things and branching out to new skills is good for you too and can lead to discovering new passions that you might have never even thought of before. However, like everything in life, there is a possibility of failure. Being emotionally strong means that you recognize and accept that possibility of failure without letting it stop you from trying out new things. 10. You're persistent and consider all the options. When making a decision, it can be easy to fixate on an option without considering all the facts. For example, you may let one aspect of a choice, such as a single person or a material item carry too much weight. It can be tempting to do this since it takes the stress out of making that choice. But it's always better to consider all the options. You could overlook something and regret your decision later if you don't. Although it'll make your decision harder and take more time, it's the best way to make tough choices. So next time you're deciding on something important, try to be emotionally strong and consider all the options. Emotional strength takes time and energy to develop as long as you keep trying and taking the steps you need to take, you're moving in the right direction. Do you think you're emotionally strong? What are your strongest areas or your weakest areas? In what ways do you think you can do your best to get emotionally stronger? Tell us in the comments below. Please like and share this video if it helped you, and you think it could help someone else too. The studies and references used are listed in the description below. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button for more Psych2Go videos. Thank you for watching. We'll see you next time.